June 13, 20196 yr Hi all Having just bought a 1997 Legacy 2.2i 4WD sedan, I see the need to lift it. my first thought is to use strut spacers to lift the body on the struts some 30mm. Not much, but enough for my needs. This route requires not much more than some tweaking of the camber angles, and possibly a rear trailing arm lift too. Otherwise I am looking at compatibility between similar age Outback or Forester SF struts. Could that be an option? I wish to go from this: To this: Many thanks in advance Mitchy
June 13, 20196 yr get a set of 96-99 Outback struts. Forrester fronts will work, but will leave you saggy butt if you use the Forester rear struts due to a unibody difference in the For vs. Leg. it's also a good idea to swap rear trailing arm brakcets from said Outback or from 98-08 Forrester. not absolutely nessecary but will help center the rear wheels in the wells. Done. You can use your same springs.
June 13, 20196 yr Author Brilliant offering, just what I was hoping for! As well as the springs can I use the Legacy strut tops? Is there any strut difference between Outback models? ie, 2wd and 4wd? I noticed one leaking strut at left-rear, so I’ll be replacing them all soon, being 22 years old and all. Thank you again for your help.
June 13, 20196 yr 17 minutes ago, Mitchy said: Brilliant offering, just what I was hoping for! As well as the springs can I use the Legacy strut tops? Is there any strut difference between Outback models? ie, 2wd and 4wd? I noticed one leaking strut at left-rear, so I’ll be replacing them all soon, being 22 years old and all. Thank you again for your help. Yes use your existing strut tops. Make sure you order "legacy Outback" struts.....not "outback sport which are just imprezas with a paint job. There are no 2wd Outbacks. Fronts KYB # 339151/152 and Rears 335020/021 link to KYB page https://www.kyb.com/catalog/ Edited June 13, 20196 yr by FerGloyale
June 23, 20196 yr Author Delving in a little deeper, I wish to swap my Legacy trailing arm brackets for Legacy Outback ones when I do the lift. I see part number 20520AA030/040 for a Legacy Sedan, and 20520AC030/040 for Outback Wagon / SUS on the JP-carparts website amongst others. I Assume that the ##AC## number part would be the one I need for a correct lift using Outback struts on my Sedan. I don’t want to order from Japan what I already have on the car! Hopefully these parts would be ‘taller’. Thank you in advance for any confirmation/ pointers Mitchy
June 25, 20196 yr Author On 6/13/2019 at 9:57 PM, FerGloyale said: Yes use your existing strut tops. Make sure you order "legacy Outback" struts.....not "outback sport which are just imprezas with a paint job. There are no 2wd Outbacks. Fronts KYB # 339151/152 and Rears 335020/021 link to KYB page https://www.kyb.com/catalog/ I just checked the link you and KYB recommends 235632 / 235633 for the fronts on a ‘97 Legacy Outback. Are those numbers you recommend for another year or model?
June 25, 20196 yr 1 hour ago, Mitchy said: I just checked the link you and KYB recommends 235632 / 235633 for the fronts on a ‘97 Legacy Outback. Are those numbers you recommend for another year or model? 339151/152 are for 99
June 26, 20196 yr Author 10 hours ago, FerGloyale said: 339151/152 are for 99 So either model strut will work, as long as they are from Outback years 96-99? Apologies for flogging this topic! Thanks again.
June 27, 20196 yr yeah, the rears are all the same listing 96-99, but the fronts, I think maybe the valving changed a bit but both #'s are the same height spec. I always recommend and buy the 99's for my clients.
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